About the SFDJ Showcase: This is a first in series of themed party fundraisers to build up for San Francisco's first major DJ street party set for October 2013. To kick off the series CMAC will host an electronic dance themed SFDJ Showcase, which will also be an opening party for SF Music Tech Summit!

About the DJ’s: Headlining the show is Syd Gris, founder of Opel Productions, along with other long time pioneers of niche S.F. Party scenes such as Maneesh the Twister of (Surya Dub). Maneesh is a producer of far Eastern styles mixed with modern club scene dub beats. We’re also proud to have Fringe DJ’s Blondie K & subOctave of the sassy monthly electro-indie music video dance party! To justly represent the diversity of the S.F. music scene we have rave classic electro glitchy DJ’s from Lights Down Low! and rock’n juke-jit-booty-ghetto techno house provided by FootwerksSF and the master of melodic-tech, deep but energetic techno DJ Liam Shy!

We would like to thank the gracious donations of the DJ’s, venue and other CMAC members and volunteers for making this happen. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating our right to party!

Recently, an Environmental Impact Review (EIR) was done to analyze the impact of redevelopment on the Western SoMa neighborhood. We have concerns that this Draft EIR doesn't adequately address the impacts of the plan on existing nightlife businesses. Certain development aspects would have real, lasting, destructive impacts on SoMa cultural spaces, including venues that support the LGBT Community, multiple ethnic communities, and spaces that provide support to non-profits and serve as community resources to all of San Francisco.

We want to be sure that entertainment continues to thrive in this neighborhood and we need your help to keep nightlife in the area alive!

The San Francisco Planning Commission will be reviewing the Western SoMa Environmental Impact Report this Thursday, July 26 – and we need you to come show your support for nightlife and entertainment!

What You Can Do:

1: Join Us

Join us THIS THURSDAY July 26, 2012 at 12:00 noon in Room 400 of City Hall and protect our favorite establishments. We will have talking points available for people willing to make public comment, but your personal experiences and concerns are the most powerful.

What: San Francisco Planning Commission hearing on draft environmental impact report of the Western SoMa Community Plan Where: San Francisco City Hall, Room 400When: Thursday, July 26 12:00pm How: Email Info@CMACsf.org to let us know you’ll be there!

2: Speak Out

Email the Planning Commission secretary with your concerns and ask that it be forwarded to the commission linda.avery@sfgov.org.

Sample Email:

Dear Commissioners,

I am concerned that the proposed Western SoMa Community Plan would have a negative impact on the historic nightlife and entertainment venues in the area. The neighborhood has already lost a number of historically significant establishments.Please support the preservation of entertainment venues and bars in the district as you review the plan.

Thank you,

NAME

3: Support Us

Can't make it? You can help by making a donation to support our work to protect entertainment in the Western SoMa neighborhood.

After hearing from CMAC members, Supervisors Chiu and Wiener have made changes to proposed legislation affecting parking lot security requirements so that lot operators maintain responsibility for safety on their property, instead of shifting the responsibility to the nightlife and entertainment industry. The proposed legislation requires parking lots submit a security plan when applying for a permit and will place minimum security requirements on garages in close proximity to an entertainment venue.

The legislation is now moving to the Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee this Thursday, where we anticipate opposition from parking lot operators and their lobbyists. Your voice is needed to prevent an undue burden from being applied to the nightlife industry.

Please support Security Plans for Commercial Parking Garages and Lots addition in the Police Code. Parking lot security is a critical element of nightlife safety and should be provided by the property owners.

Thank you,

Name, Address"

Your input at the Public Safety Committee is the most powerful way you can influence this legislation!

For more than 40 years San Francisco has enjoyed the live music performed at 1337 Grant Ave in North Beach. This historic venue has been granted entertainment permits year after year for past occupants, including Mojito and most recently Tupelo.

Unfortunately, The San Francisco Zoning Administrator is using a minor clerical error to shut down live music at 1337 Grant Ave, despite decades of enjoyment, numerous city-issued permits, and years of responsible operation.

This action sets a dangerous precedent for all live music in San Francisco. Our city should not be governed by obscure regulations that are subject to individual interpretation. Live music and entertainment are a critical part of our local economy and culture and need to be protected against frivolous regulation.

What You Can Do:

1. Speak out!

Join supporters of live music at the San Francisco Board of Permit Appeals next Wednesday, April 18 and show your support of nightlife and culture.

At last we can quantify the economic value of all the nighttime carousing in San Francisco's bars and clubs. A report by the city controller's office says the after-dark entertainment scene generates $4.2 billion a year in spending, $1 billion of it from nightclubs, taverns, performances and art spaces. The tax haul: $55 million.

That's a hefty chunk of revenue, but it can come at a price: noise, crime and annoyed neighbors. City politicians, police and neighbors share the responsibility of keeping the revelry under control while encouraging it to prosper.

An example of the downside is Polk Street, where residents and some merchants are complaining of noisy crowds walking the streets late at night - one two-block stretch is home to nine bars. Similar complaints are heard in other neighborhoods.

The most extreme case of out-of-control nightlife in recent years was a rash of shootings at a few clubs in 2010. The result was legislation to beef up the power of the Entertainment Commission to shut down problem businesses, and most observers say that has tamped down the problem.

Ron Case, chairman of the Lower Polk Neighbors group, would like to see a moratorium on new liquor licenses in his area. He also suggests that merchants could fund an improvement district for the neighborhood, like the one that hires "ambassadors" to patrol Union Square and give the cops a heads-up about problems. (He also would like to see all businesses shut down by 2 a.m. - good luck with that.)

This is San Francisco, not the suburbs. Part of the experience of living in a big city is the wide range of entertainment available to residents. That also attracts young people seeking fun and employment and out-of-towners with cash to spend.

But nightlife does need some regulation to protect residents and merchants alike from bad behavior.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro, ordered up the controller's study and says its findings give officials real facts on which to base decisions: "In the past, those decisions frequently have been driven by anecdote or overreaction to isolated events."

A good first step: Wiener is looking at ways to give the Entertainment Commission more authority to shut down problem establishments.

Local efforts by activists like Ron Case play an important role in tracking this ever-evolving problem. But the controller's study shows how important this industry is and should prompt City Hall to keep it thriving and safe - for a number of reasons.

As Wiener says, "The $55 million this generates in taxes will pay for a lot of cops."

Nightlife: vibrant but safe

Here's what San Francisco needs to do:

Patrols: Establish more Business Improvement Districts to patrol neighborhoods with heavy nocturnal action. About a dozen of these already exist around the city, hiring "ambassadors" - you've seen them in Union Square, dressed in red coats and caps - to keep an eye on the action and alert police to any signs of trouble.

Dialogue: Neighborhood associations can help by pulling all parties together to talk about their concerns. They might even come up with some solutions.

Cops: Beef up the force on the street. Chief Greg Suhr says that with about 100 more officers (the department is down 250 from normal staffing), he could post a few cops near bars around closing time to urge patrons to head home instead of hanging around and keeping residents awake. Suhr has proposed a five-year plan.

Oversight: Given a little more legal muscle, the Entertainment Commission should be more aggressive in responding to the concerns of those who live in the city's entertainment districts.